On Sunday, China’s President Xi Jinping won a historic third term and promoted a few of his closest Communist Party supporters, cementing his place as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee elected Xi as its general secretary for yet another 5yr term, according to Xinhua, tipping the nation conclusively back towards one-man rule after decades of power-sharing amongst elite.
“I truly appreciate the entire party for the confidence you have put in us,” Xi told reporters after the closed-door vote was revealed at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
He vowed to “work tirelessly in the performance of our duties to prove worthy of our party’s as well as our people’s great trust.”
Xi has also been reappointed as the chairman of China’s Central Military Commission.
The 69-year-old is now almost certain to win a third term as China’s president, which will be officially confirmed in March during the government’s annual legislative sessions.
His inauguration followed a week-long Congress of 2,300 hand-picked party delegates, who endorsed Xi’s “core position” in the governance as well as endorsed a sweeping restructure that saw former adversaries step down.
The new Central Committee of around 200 high ranking party officials was elected at the 20th Congress, and also the Standing Committee, the pinnacle of Chinese political power was elected on Sunday.
The seven-member committee included some of Xi’s closest allies.
Former Shanghai party leader Li Qiang, a Xi confidante, was elevated to number two, putting him in line to be named premier during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
Since taking over as China’s chief a decade ago, Xi has consolidated power unlike any other modern Chinese leader since Mao.
In 2018, he scrapped the presidential two-term limit, allowing him to govern endlessly.
Xi has also presided over China’s rise to the world’s second-largest economy, massive military expansion, and a much more aggressive global posture, which has sparked strong opposition from the US.
Despite his near-unchecked power, Xi faces major challenges over the next five years, which include managing the country’s debt-ridden economy and a burgeoning rivalry with the United States.
China in the Present
The vote on Sunday ended a victorious week in which China’s top brass praised their country’s leadership over the past five years.
Xi praised the party’s accomplishments in his opening remarks to its 20th Congress last Sunday, while ignoring domestic issues such as the stalled economy as well as the damage caused by his harsh zero-Covid legislation.
A defiant Xi, hard on ideological rhetoric as well as light on policy, also urged party members to brace themselves for a slew of challenges, including one with a toughening geopolitical climate.
Analysts had been waiting to see if the party charter would be changed to include “Xi Jinping Thought” as a governing principle, putting Xi on par with Mao.
That did not happen, but a resolution referred to the creed as “the Marxism of contemporary China and the twenty-first century,” adding that it “encapsulates the best Chinese ethos and culture of this era.”
Hu led the way.
Former President Hu Jintao was led out of the hall in an unexpected move that punctuated the proceedings at Saturday’s Congress closing ceremony.
The frail-looking 79-year-old appeared hesitant to leave his seat in the front row, next to Xi.
Hu insisted on participating in the session despite being ill, according to state media late Saturday.
“When he wasn’t feeling well during the session, his staff accompanied him to a room next to the meeting area for a rest for his wellbeing.” He is much better now, Xinhua stated on Twitter, which is currently is blocked in China.
